Mount Gray

It feels like forever since I’ve had something that called itself an Earl Grey. I am surprised I missed it as much as I do. I wouldn’t count Earl Greys as among my favorite teas. I’m not sure they’re even in the top ten, though I do enjoy them a lot when I’m in the right mood.

Also, I haven’t really met an Andrews and Dunham tea that I didn’t like.

I thought that might change when I cracked open the tin because the dry tea smells heavily and only of bergamot. Strongly citrus. It even has an edge of perfume to it. When I do have Earl Grey, I like the ones that are bergamot-citrus, usually a lot more than the ones that are than bergamot-perfume.

After steeping, the perfume aspect goes away, fortunately. The aroma mellows substantially, to a light lemon-orange scent over tea with a mocha note. The tea is dark amber and clear.

This is a lovely Earl Grey. My favorite always and forever will be Samovar’s followed by ATR’s Earl Grey Shanghai which is no longer available. While I prefer the Yunnan base of the Samovar and ATR, this is a very mellow blend. The bergamot is definitely central, but not sharp or overpowering, and it integrates well with the base. I’m not sure what the base is, just that it isn’t Yunnan. It doesn’t have the color of Ceylon after steeping. Assam, perhaps?

In any case, I like it a lot. I’m bumping ATR’s rating just so I can rate this high.

I am a little worried about Andrews & Dunham, though. The last thing I see on their Facebook page is from September.

Anyone have any news?

Brewed especially strong for a milk tea preparation…excessively strong – perfumed with the oils sitting upon the tongue…will use it for baking/cooking purposes…

Geek Steep S1E17 – Doctor Who

Obviously I had to drink my Doctor Who themed tea while watching the special for this week’s episode, but it wasn’t lost on me that an equally perfect pairing would have been a good British style cuppa – and that led to choosing this tea for the recording.

An English Breakfast or something in that vein probably would have been equally fitting, but this is a tea I so rarely steep up so I liked having the excuse to. I’m not the biggest fan of it in all honesty – I just don’t love bergamot, and this is a very strong and intense bergamot. Probably the most heavy handed bergamot of any other tea in my stash right now. However, it just felt so perfect that I didn’t mind!?

Not to mention it’s just a good tea. Like, it’s not my normal preference but it’s VERY well done and uses super good quality ingredients. When I am in the mood for this sort of assertive, full bodied black tea with the briskness of the bergamot used here there is literally nothing else that matches it.

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I’m not a huge Earl Grey fan, but this is decent. The bergamot is strong, but not overly metallic or cloying, and the base is also sturdy and decent.

Thanks for sending me a sample of this to try, Lala!

Do you like bergamot? This is the bergamotiest. Smooth and more floral than citrusy, almost like orange blossom. Grounded with some kind of black tea with a nice depth to it.

Sample sipdown from Cavocorax! Pretty much everything I’ve been drinking lately came from her or OMGsrsly. Soooo many teas to try, but I’m almost through!

This one I ended up ordering as part of my A&D holy trinity order when they had free shipping to Canada for Canada Day. Too sweet to pass up!

I wouldn’t have ordered this one on its own but for $8 extra, I do love me a goods strong EG. I did like the Steven Smith EG better if memory serves.

I am so lucky Cavo sent the samples along for me to try. Yay tea frens!

Thank you for the sample Stephanie! We picked this up from DFT at the Coffee & Tea Festival in NYC.

The dried leaves remind me of my childhood, bringing me back to breakfasts filled with bowls of Fruit Loops cereal.

The scent of the brewed tea is more mild with citrus up front and mineral at the end. This tea is perfectly smooth and has absolutely no astringency to it. By far one of the best earl grey teas I’ve had.

This is a pretty OK Earl, although I think I like the EG Cream varieties a bit more. I was a little apprehensive about it since it smelled SO STRONG in the sample bag I had. I had to double bag it. But after the steep it’s just a pretty normal strength. Nice, a bit astringent. I don’t know if it will go on the must have list but I have no issue finishing off the several cups worth of leaf that I have.

Let’s see, the hot tea is starting to make me…hot. So I looked around for a good way to brew up some cold tea, and found some size 4 Tsacs on Ebay cheap. I got 100 of those suckers for $5, shipped. I asked my daughter to pick one of the teas we have a lot of (we have a bunch of 1/4 lb teas from Darlene’s off of Ebay) and she picked Apple Pie. So that will be our first experiment later today.

My mom is coming in tomorrow, which is always sort of a mixed blessing thing. I am really happy to see my mom, but she tends to look around for the ONE thing I haven’t done instead of the million I have done. You know? Like I can make 6 figures a year, own a company, raise two great kids, have a happy marriage, and she still will complain that I need to do X. Whatever. Looking forward to it. Kinda.

Man, this is an intense one. I used to hate Earl Gray because to me, it usually tastes very soapy from the sharpness of the bergamot. However, once I learned to just put a dash of milk or almond milk in it, I am a huge fan. This one is perfect for that as it is very strong. I have a sample and can smell it perfectly through the bag. As this tea is a staple for many, I would highly recommend this brand.

I am enjoying this one this morning. This is a quite old sample and I think TerriHarpLady sent me this one. Thanks Terri !

I am an Earl Grey Lover, you know, I’ suprised I didn’t taste this one before.
This is perfectly balanced maybe too much for me. Tea base and bergamot are on the same line. This is pleasant but surely not my favourite EG. It has a lack of some bergamoty touch, maybe the peel ? not sure but something is missing for sure to be a real EG on my opinion.